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The Clinic for the Study of Multiculturalism and Diversity

The Clinic for the Study of Multiculturalism and Diversity is a unique and first of its kind interdisciplinary initiative. It is a clinical course run in cooperation with the Clinical Legal Education Center and as such it has an academic aspect as well as a practical aspect.

Our students come from various schools of thought: future lawyers, psychologists, journalists, sociologists and anthropologists. All coming together for the purpose of exploring the loaded and intriguing intersections between the various cultural groups comprising the Israeli mosaic. The multicultural “experiment” in Israel will be discussed on its successes and failures, while considering different groups among which Haredi people, Arab-Palestinians, Ethiopian Jews, Sephardim, Russian speakers, and LGBT community.

The interdisciplinary nature of the clinic is meant to allow a holistic treatment of these burning issues. This is by simulating a social “one stop shop”, which provides clients with legal assistance, media consultation, public policy drafting and more. The clinic aims to develop new strategies for battling discrimination and incitement to racial hatred. It will also work to advance workplace diversity, to advocate for a multicultural public space, and to increase the cultural accessibility of health and welfare services.

We will aim to use the multicultural theoretical framework as a driving force to advance minority groups and promote the dialogue between them, while employing a critical view on the concept of multiculturalism. The project will move, then, between sketching the borders of “new multiculturalism” in light of criticism, and practicing activism in a multicultural age. In so doing, the clinic seeks to offer students intellectual and practical challenges, as well as a starting point for a personal journey.